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Topic: Pay (Read 12531 times)

I've found this interesting - I'm in the UK and most banks have accounts designed for children/teens. Typically they provide an ATM card, and there are no restrictions on how often money can be taken in or out. You can't have a chequebook, overdraft or credit card until you are 18, I think because all of those are forms of credit and you can't enforce debts against someone under 18.

I remeber being really surprised when I read teen books set in the USA and they often had kids using a parent's credit card - I couldn't work out how that would work, as over here, you had to sign the slip to use a credit card (now they are mostly chip and pin, so it could work if the parent was willing to give their child the PIN)

The only time I've ever borrowed one of my parents' credit cards was when I bought gas in high school. Sometimes it was easier to send me on my own, and nobody checks ID when you pay at the pump (at most, you enter a billing zip code). Otherwise, my parents would give me cash or come with me when I wanted to buy things they agreed to pay for.

They did also, when I was in college, make me a cardholder on one of their credit card accounts. I wasn't responsible for the account in any way (so it didn't affect my credit history either positively or negatively), but I had a card with my own name on it. My parents got the statement with their own statements.

That was pretty convenient, largely because I was responsible about it and my parents trusted me. I always asked permission to use it to buy anything we hadn't already agreed upon. But it meant that even when I didn't have a credit card of my own, I was always going to have access to ready money in an emergency. It also just made it easier for my parents to pay for certain things they were willing to pay for.

I actually still have that card, although I only use it every once in a blue moon (occasionally, my parents will tell my DH and I that we can have a meal out on them). I'll probably tell my parents to just take me off the account when the current card expires -- it's not all that useful anymore, and it's one more thing to carry around in my wallet.

Yup, Dindrane, that's the first kind of card I had too. It was issued on my parents' account, meaning their credit, but my name was on the card and I paid the bills so I got experience using it while my parents were still responsible. After about a year, I got my own card so I could build up my own credit history.

The best job I've had moneywise now is the only one with no DD offered. My boss HAND WRITES the checks on the 15th and the end of the month. Seeing as how she's a lawyer, it got really dicey once when she had a court appearance on payday, and I had to leave early for class. (and I was low on gas, groceries, and had bills due). It also causes problems when I can't get off in time to go to the bank- once I wanted to go by and use Wal-Mart's money center, but they don't cash hand written checks.